04 May 2016

Building Resilient Communities (BRC) Kabupaten Karo, Provinsi Sumatera Utara, Indonesia

Sinabung, 4 May 2016: MERCY Malaysia in collaboration with Maybank Foundation has launched Building Resilient Communities (BRC) program in Karo Regency, North Sumatera Province, Indonesia on 13-14 April 2016. The program was held to raise holistic awareness to the local community, whom is the target group potentially in danger of the direct affect from Sinabung volcano disaster, through technical and Disaster Risk Reduction approach.

The Building Resilient Communities program was kicked-off in Perbaji village, Tiganderket district, Karo regency, North Sumatera, by En Ahmad Faezal bin Mohammed, Head of Corporate Responsibility & Maybank Foundation Secretariat and Honorary Secretary of MERCY Malaysia, YM Datin Raja Riza Shazmin Raja Badrul Shah, witnessed by Acting Governor of North Sumatera Tengku Erry Nuradi, Regent of Karo Terkelin Brahmana, Malaysian Consulate-General in Medan, Encik Amizal Fadzli Rajali, Head, Regional Supervision & Support of Maybank Indonesia, Jaihut Sijabat and Maybank Indonesia staff who will be involved in BRC program as volunteers.  

Mount Sinabung, which is located in Kabupaten Karo, is a volcano which had been inactive for 400 years before it erupted in the year 2010 causing 10,000 locals from 10 areas in Kabupaten Karo to lose their homes. The unstable state of the volcano causes the nearby residents to be constantly exposed to dangerous situations.

Thus, in order to manage the situation, MERCY Malaysia has cooperated with local developer agency, Badan Penanggulangan Bencana Daerah (BPBD) in planning a comprehensive exercise program to raise the awareness and provide knowledge to the affected communities from the volcano disaster. The RM260,000 (equivalent to Rp872,997,221) worth program was fully financed by Maybank Foundation through its Corporate Responsibility Secretariat which has been constantly providing humanitarian aid to communities affected by natural disasters.

According to En Ahmad Faezal bin Mohamed, Head of Corporate Responsibility and Maybank Foundation Secretariat, “Maybank Foundation has always supported humanitarian aid efforts by non-government bodies in this region, and we have channeled aid to communities affected by Mount Merapi eruption in Javanese Islands in year 2010. Alhamdulillah, we feel lucky this time to be able to assist local communities affected by Sinabung volcano disaster and earthquake. We are confident with the strong bond between MERCY Malaysia and ourselves, all efforts in building a resilient community in Kabupaten Karo through the Building Resilient Karo can be successfully achieved, insyaAllah.”